Peter Brown's ShopTime

I'm officially moved. The upside is a dedicated shop in the rear of the house with nothing but my stuff. The downside is that this dedicated space, is quite a bit smaller than my 2 car garage was, and I don't have room for all my tools. But I'm determined to make it work... As such I've reneged on one of my cardinal rules: "never sell power tools." Sort of a never say die, when it comes to woodworking. So as of this weekend 3 of my iron pals, went off to new owners. Craftsman 12" band saw Rockwell 6" Jointer Craftsman 10" Radial Arm Saw I know it was the right decision, and I've still got pretty cramped quarters, but workable. The dust collector might have to re assigned a new owner, but the table saw, 14" band saw, lathe and drill press are staying firmly planted... We will remain vigilant!

My shop is all packed up. I'm moving on this weekend and the garage that has been my only woodworking space will be used for something boring and utilitarian like storage or parking by the new owner. I'm sure I will be leaving him copious amounts of sawdust in the rafters and layered on the springs of the garage door mechanism. I'm excited about laying out my new shop, but I'm already strangely sentimental about the shop where I first learned the joys of woodworking, woodturning and machine restorations.  It's been a good little shop. A bit chaotic and cobbled together. I re-arranged it only to squeeze in a new tool I had just scored on craigslist. I never got the dust collection finished, and rarely could find my pencil when I needed it but I almost always enjoyed the time spend working wood. I'm very excited to layout a new shop and get it set up just so...

This is my first plate. It is from a chunk of walnut firewood that I re-sawed and then glued together to make a 7" blank. I accidentally flipped the ends while gluing so I botched the bookmark. Still, came out okay. 7 7/8" in  diameter 5/8" high. Finished with wipe on poly.  Added a ridge around the edge Very nice curl on the walnut Finished with the donut chuck.

A co-worker downed a pear tree after it was damaged in a storm. I happened to overhear the conversation and quipped, "If you want to part with some, I'll make you a bowl from some of the wood." He was generous enough to part with all of the wood. My shop is full of pear! I've already rough turned about 3 bowls. I Have acres to go! Thank heavens for Achorseal...

Found another  free table on Craigslist. It was in pretty rough shape, with a nasty discolored area from an ashtry and a crack in the table top. I ripped the top at the crack and then jointed the boards and glued up the panel. I then took a peek at the trestle. The top was secured with screws that left no room for movement in the top. So I slotted a few holes and re-attached the boards in a way that would allow the top to expand and contract again without cracking. Lastly I made some wedges for the cross member on the trestle stand. This added a ton of stability. After sanding the top down I was going to re-stain it to match the bottom, but I thought it really looked good as it was. So I put two coats of shellac on the base and 4 coats of poly on top and posted it back on craigslist.  I have someone coming to look at it tonight... EDIT: And they took it home with them. It was a fun and simple flip and now I have some more green in my pocket. 

The gift shop that I sell my bottle stoppers in is closing their doors. Too sad. It was a cool little shop. I stopped by today and picked up my stoppers and displays. I now get to go through the rather ego weary process of finding another shop to sell them in. Wish me luck!

I recently made some lift lid boxes. I really like this style of box. The boxes are 3" in all dimensions. That equals about 2 inches of useable space inside. Perfect for jewelry or a small treasure, that needs safe keeping! Both of the cedar boxes sold a the craft show, but I still have all the rest. Walnut, Oak, Maple and Cedar. With contrasting tops and miter keys. Finished with wipe on poly All in a row